A June battle with Tampa Bay for first place? Is that what we've got tonight? Really? Well...yeah. And the Sox had to scramble yesterday to put first on the line tonight. Down 4-3 in the sixth (three runs on homers by Lowell and Drew), the Sox hit the Rays for four game-winning runs. The Sox loaded the bases unconventionally (HBP, error, walk), then got an RBI single from Varitek and a 2-run double from the ghost of Coco Crisp. Ellsbury hit a sac-fly to make the final score 7-4. Justin Masterson got his second win, Papelbon his 17th save.

So yes, first place in the AL East will be decided tonight. The Rays, who famously dropped the "Devil" from their moniker (and are serious about cutting ties with that era, as this Bostonist found out), have a roster full of legit MLB players and future stars who don't think their hot spring was a joke. They're certainly fired up down there about playing meaningful games after the tax deadline.

Checking around the rest of baseball, we see that the team that used to be our fiercest division rival is back in last place, and the starting debut of their franchise savior was a flop at best. Pedro Martinez had a successful return from his injury. And the Red Sox broke an 86-year drought, the White Sox won for the first time in 88 years...is the longest drought of all about to be next? Shhhhh.....

While the players get ready, the sniping over the Internet is in full force. Bill Plaschke of the LA Times fired first, attacking Gino, Paul Pierce's "alleged gang sign", and Bill Belichick. Bill Simmons fired back, pointing out Laker fans' beat-traffic mentality, their geographically ridiculous name, and "that ninny Kareem". Also in pre-Finals mania, the You Got Rondo'd ads are up, and the C's-crazy Suldog patiently explains why the "Beat LA!" chant has much more to it than just chest-thumping bragadoccio.

Elsewhere in the NBA, losing to the C's has cost Flip Saunders his job; Detroit bid Saunders adieu after three seasons, then Joe Dumars said he'd consider trading any Piston if the offer was right. Dumars is reportedly meeting today with Hillary Clinton to see if there's any way the Pistons can get the Eastern Finals made into a best-of-11.

Image culled from the great and powerful Internet.